美夫妇奇葩纪念日传统 1955年的婚礼蛋糕一吃60年

For the past 60 years, this Florida couple have been celebrating their anniversary by eating a piece out of their wedding cake – not a replica, the original one!
过去60年里，这对来自佛罗里达的夫妇每年的结婚纪念日都要吃一块他们的婚礼蛋糕—不是复制品，而是货真价实的当年剩下的婚礼蛋糕！

Ann and Ken Fredericks were married on 19 August, 1955 and Ann’s grandmother had baked a three-layer fruitcake for the occasion. The top layer of that cake, baked six decades ago, still exists in a metal Maxwell Coffee House can. “Every year, we unwrap it, pour brandy over it – because you need to moisten it – and we break off a piece,” Ann said.
安（Ann）和肯•弗雷德里克斯（Ken Fredericks）于1955年8月19日结为连理，当年安的奶奶为了庆祝这一喜事亲自烤了三层的水果蛋糕。这款蛋糕最上面那层现在已经60多“高龄”，但仍然保存在一个麦斯威尔金属咖啡罐里。安说：“每年，我们都打开包装，在蛋糕上面倒满白兰地（因为你得把蛋糕润湿一点），然后掰下来一小块。”

“Everybody just looks at us with amazed looks when they hear about it,” she added. “Our children are appalled that we would be eating something that’s 60 years old. But believe me, it’s quite tasty, as long as it’s got enough brandy on it. And it’s never made us sick.”
“每个听到这件事的人都会惊讶地看我们，”她补充道。“我们的孩子们对于我们会吃60年前烤的蛋糕的事也是震惊万分。但相信我，蛋糕的味道相当不错，当然前提是你要倒足够多的白兰地。我们也从没因为吃这个身体不舒服。”

Back in the ’50s, it was rather fashionable to have a fruitcake as a wedding cake. Ann’s grandmother used the fruit that Ann’s grandfather brought home from the docks in New York to bake a three-layer dark fruitcake for the wedding. It was baked a couple of months in advance, so it would have enough time to age and settle. A local bakery even covered it with a hard shell, to stop the fruit from bleeding through. A layer of buttercream frosting was added on the day of the wedding.
时间先拨回50年代，那时很流行用水果蛋糕做婚礼蛋糕。安的奶奶用她爷爷从纽约码头带回家的水果为她的婚礼烤了一个三层的黑色水果蛋糕。这个蛋糕还是提前了几个月烤制的，为的就是能有时间好好熟化。当地一家烘焙店还专门用硬壳将蛋糕包裹起来，以防止水果渗出。在婚礼那天，他们又在蛋糕上面加了一层奶油糖霜。

“When you looked at it, it looked like a three-layer white wedding cake,” Ann recalled. After the wedding, the couple saved whatever was left of the cake, and have savoured it every year since.
“当时它看起来就像个三层的白色婚礼蛋糕，”安回忆道。婚礼宴会过后，这对夫妇将剩下的蛋糕全部保存了下来，从那以后每年都要拿出来“品味”几口。

Ann and Ken met as students at Syracuse University, and they lived in New York during the first few years of their marriage. But in 1968, they decided to follow Ken’s parents to Florida. “Even though we were both from the Northeast, neither one of us liked the cold,” Ann said. “So after those two visits to the in-laws, we said we were going to move to Florida. And we never regretted it.”
安和肯在雪城大学（Syracuse University）读书时相识，他们婚后前几年都在纽约生活。但在1968年，他们决定跟肯的父母一样到佛罗里达生活。安说：“我们两个虽然来自美国东北部地区，但都不喜欢寒冷的气候。所以我们在拜访了两次公婆后便决定搬去佛罗里达，对此我们从未后悔过。”

Ken, now 85, worked as a music teacher before he retired, while Ann, 81, was a nurse for 27 years. They’ve lived in their Satellite Beach home since 1971. Because their diamond anniversary happened to be on a weekday, they celebrated it with family and friends over the weekend. They were joined by their daughter Jean, and sons Ken Jr. and David. Nine of their grandchildren and two of Ann’s bridesmaids attended the celebrations as well.
肯今年85岁，退休前一直是一位音乐教师，安今年81岁，之前当了27年护士。他们从1971年开始就一直住在卫星海滩（Satellite Beach）的家里。因为他们的钻石婚纪念日恰好是工作日，所以他们就选在周末跟亲友一起庆祝。当时他们的女儿简（Jean）、儿子小肯（Ken Jr.）和大卫（David）、九个孙子还有当年安的两位伴娘也都来一同庆祝。

The couple like teasing their children about it. Over the years, their kids and grandkids have always refused to take a bite of the ageing cake. “They won’t taste it,” Ken said.
这对夫妇很爱用这个蛋糕戏弄他们的孩子。这些年来，他们的孩子和孙辈一直对品尝这块蛋糕唯恐避之不及。肯说：“他们都不愿尝上一口。”

“And we tell them, it tastes fine,” said Ann. “They always say, ‘Oh, there’s not that much. You two keep it for yourself.’ I don’t know, we may have to be buried with it.”
安说：“我们告诉他们说味道其实挺不错的。他们总回应说：‘啊，剩下的也不多了，还是留给你们俩自己吃吧。’谁知道呢，我们到时候会带着这蛋糕入土也说不定呢。”

Vocabulary

moisten：使湿润

appalled： 震惊的，惊愕的

frosting：(用于装饰蛋糕的) 糖霜